UWV: 45 different professions needed to make houses more sustainable

To get houses off the gas and to insulate buildings, 45 technical professions are needed, while there is already a shortage of skilled workers. The UWV has mapped this out, together with the Social and Economic Council, the Cooperation Organization for Vocational Education, Business and Training, and the Climate Agreement. According to the researchers, the shortage makes it difficult to achieve the goals.

The researchers looked at which professionals are needed to achieve the goals for the built environment from the 2019 climate agreement. That is about the transformation of 7 million houses and 1 million buildings.

Technical staff in particular is needed, says Suzanne IJzerman, labor market advisor at the UWV and one of the researchers. “Think of electricians, solar installers and plumbers who have to install the heat pumps.”

In addition, according to the researchers, policy officers are also needed for tenders, for example, and communication advisors to explain the policy.

46,000 vacancies

It is difficult to say exactly how big the shortages in these professions are, according to IJzerman, but there were 46,000 vacancies for the technical professions alone last summer. It is unclear which part of those vacancies are related to the climate goals. “Electricians also do work that is not directly climate-related”, says IJzerman, “such as, for example, solving malfunctions”.

Due to these shortages, it can be difficult to achieve the goals, says IJzerman. That is why the UWV is working with employers and training institutes on various processes to retrain people for a climate profession. “That may help a little, but it certainly won’t solve everything.”

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